In July, Roads assistant minister Wilfred Machage told Parliament Sh 1.1 billion will be paid out while Sh573 million will be paid to the Commissioner of Land. He said the ministry had already paid Sh458 million leaving a balance of Sh 1.2 billion.

"The ministry is in the process of preparing cheques for the affected persons amounting to Sh 1,279,229,067 leaving a balance of Sh964,649,447 to be paid later," Machage said.

There are unconfirmed reports that the Kenyatta fam¬ly has been allocated Sh980 million but the cheque is yet to be issued. It is not clear the acreage the Kenyattas have surrendered.

Several institutions have already accepted the offer and one university has already been paid Sh550 million.

The Kenyattas, speaking through a confidante of Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, denied that the family had rejected the offer. "We are only aware that the government has been acquiring land along Thika Road for expansion. Again you cannot reject the government's offer where compulsory acquisition laws are being applied. You either take it or you lose everything."

The Lands commissioner in his gazette notice quoted section 6 (2) of the Land Acquisition Act that gives the government the final say on the amount of money the affected property owner should be paid. Normally, the state hires valuers who inspect the property and advise government on how much it should pay.

The government has borrowed Sh 18.5 billion from African Development Bank for upgrading the 45km road from Nairobi to Thika.